Romans 12:4–5 - Our Bond is Christ

Scientists tell us that much of our world is held together by realities that we can’t see. Gravity is not visible, but we experience its pull. Atoms and molecules – which compose what we see and touch – are held together by bonds invisible to the human eye. These are unseen realities – yet they’re no less real or necessary.

Something similar is true of the Lord’s church. We can't look around this room and immediately recognize the bond connecting God's people. That’s one reason why we can lose our awareness of the bond. And without that awareness, we may turn against one another.

Think about how cancer operates. Cancer is fundamentally a disease which causes the human body to turn against and harm itself. For the church, sin is like cancer. It turns brother in Christ against brother in Christ. It turns sister in Christ against sister in Christ.

But even though sin can terribly damage our fellowship, it can’t sever our bond, because our bond is not breakable. Our bond is our Living Lord Himself. Our bond is Christ. Believers are united in Him, so we are truly united to one another.

And with a right understanding and awareness of that union –as Christ forms His lasting character and ways within us – we’ll be made stronger and stronger as a congregation that knows the joy of the Lord and the peace of Christ. We’ll be a congregation where the gifts and abilities of every man, woman, and child are treasured, and where disciples of Jesus Christ are made. And to help us with this, God’s Word tells us two places to look: the human body (v.4), and the body of Christ (v.5).

Now, last week, from verse 3, we learned that the mind being renewed by Christ no longer ranks people according to their gifts and abilities. Differing gifts don’t create differing degrees of importance. Each believer belongs equally to Christ, and therefore we should hold a high opinion of everyone in the covenant community.

Look at verse 3 again. Paul urges, “everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” That last phrase means that all believers should evaluate themselves and each other according to the faith that we all have in common – faith in who Christ is and what He’s done for us. We should view each other according to God’s revealed truth about all Christians. Again, all believers have equal standing and value in Christ, though we have different roles and abilities.

Consider, for example, the human body. Verse 4, “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function.” Think for a moment about your own body. Your eye does something that your hand simply can’t do. Your hand can do something that your foot can’t do. But there’s no use debating which one is more valuable or necessary. Their roles differ.

The underlying principle is that all the parts are necessary for proper function. With our human bodies, we just accept that different parts do different things. We understand this to be God’s design – and we sort of forget about it. In fact, we normally don’t appreciate a part of the body until it doesn’t function properly.

But when a part has problems, we recognize its worth. You didn’t appreciate just how much you used your arms until you broke it. When it’s in a cast, you look forward to it being restored.

Malfunction or loss aren’t required for us to recognize value, though. Look again at the verse. “For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function…” Just hearing that changes our perspective on our human bodies. The elbow, the knee. The ankle, the skin. The lungs, the tongue. The eyelids, the shoulders. Arms, legs, heart, stomach. On and on and on – each one different, but each one necessary.

That’s how Scripture instructs us to view ourselves as a congregation of believers. In Ephesians 4, Paul tells the church that, “speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

The brain says, “You’re hungry.” The legs walk to the kitchen. The arm and hand open the fridge. The eyes look around. The arm and hand get what you like. The mouth chews; the throat and esophagus swallow. The stomach digests. And the whole body grows and is sustained.

Do the members of the church need each other? Look at the human body.

Do we compliment each other? Look at the human body.

And are we connected to one another? Well, in Colossians 2:19, Paul tells the church to beware of “not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.” We are nourished and knit together by Christ our living Head. So again, are we really connected to one another? Look at the human body.

But then Paul tells us another place to look. In verse 5, he finishes his thought – “so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.“ Like the human body, the members of the congregation are “individually members one of another” and “though many, are one body in Christ.” We are diverse and different, like the parts of the body. Different in form, different in function. But with only one living Head, which is Christ.

During His earthly ministry recorded in Scripture, Jesus doesn’t explicitly use this language of Him as the Head and us as the body. He gave that later on to the apostles via His Holy Spirit. But as I’ve referenced many times recently, Christ did use Vine/branches illustration. And there is a strong parallel between that and the human body illustration. One Head, many body parts. One Vine, many branches.

In both illustrations, there is one, singular source. To understand, it helps to think of your house where you live. In your home, you have many electrical light fixtures. Different designs in different places around the house, both inside and outside. They serve different purposes. But they’re not independently producing their own electricity. They undoubtedly have the same source that gives power and function to each one.

Christ the Lord is our source. For a better understanding and awareness of our union as a church, look at the body of Christ – what each one of us brings because of Christ.

To be made stronger as a congregation that knows the Lord’s joy and peace, look at the body of Christ  – what each one of us possesses because of Him.

To be a congregation where every man, woman, and child’s presence is treasured – where our gifts and abilities are appreciated and utilized, and where disciples of Jesus Christ are made – look at the body of Christ.

Like the light fixtures in your home, we are many, but we rely on one power source. None of us possesses spiritual life independently. We rely on Christ. Take away the source, and every light goes dark.

You see, to dismiss and devalue even one of the Lord’s’ precious believers is to dismiss and devalue the Lord Himself. You don’t possess your God-given gifts and abilities for isolation. You don’t possess them only for personal fulfillment or benefit.

Like each part of the human body, we exist for the benefit of all the other parts. We possess God-given gifts and abilities in and for the body of Christ. Sin will cause us to turn inward, viewing gifts and abilities as a means to attention, security, or personal satisfaction. But as Christ is formed in us, we will live outwardly, viewing our gifts and abilities as ways to bless and build up God’s church. Next week, in verse 6-8, we’ll consider those different kinds of gifts.

Now when we began this message, we considered bonds and forces that are real, even though they can’t be seen with the naked eye. But our bond is different. Christ has been seen. He took on flesh and lived among people, where He was seen and heard and touched.

Many saw as He suffered and died in a real human body. And on the third day He rose bodily from the grave. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul writes that the risen Christ “appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” Then He appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, then to James, then to all the apostles, and finally to Paul himself.

So our bond was seen. However, in 1 Peter 1, the apostle Peter encouraged those
who believed after the ascension of Christ to heaven, saying, “Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory.” We don’t now see Christ. He is seated at the right hand of God the Father in heaven.

And yet, here at His Table, He has given us something we can see. We can’t see our union with Him. We can’t see the bond that joins us to one another in Him. But here we have visible signs and seals of that invisible reality. We see the bread. We see the cup. We take them into our hands. We taste them.

And through these outward means, Christ and the benefits of the new covenant are represented, sealed, and applied to us. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

Brothers and sisters, our bond is Christ. As you take and hold the bread and cup, look at the body of Christ. As you look around at your brothers and sisters, look at the body of Christ. Our bond is Christ.

Let’s bow together in prayer.